Luzon grid placed under red, yellow alerts

(UPDATE) THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) issued red and yellow alerts for the Luzon grid on Monday in part because of Tropical Storm Aghon.

The grid was under red alert from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

A yellow alert was issued from 12 noon to 1 p.m., 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. to midnight.

A red alert is raised when the power supply is insufficient to meet consumer demand and the grid's regulating requirement.

A yellow alert means there is not enough electricity to meet the grid's reserve requirement.

The NGCP said the alerts were issued because of forced outages of plants brought about by Aghon. It reported that several plants and transmission lines in the path of the typhoon were affected and restoration work is ongoing.

The Department of Energy said the storm caused a substantial drop in available power supply at a time when the hydro plants have not recovered from a low water supply. It said that while the power supply is expected to improve in the coming days, the public should conserve energy. Commercial and industrial consumers are also urged to continue to implement their Interruptible Load Program to help reduce electricity demand during peak hours.

Following the red and yellow alerts in Luzon, the Energy Regulatory Commission ordered the suspension of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market Monday due to insufficient generation capacity in the grid.